Hi. I teach middle school music. One of my students is moving to the UK. Her mom wanted to know if they ought to purchase the oboe she`s using now or wait til they get to England to buy one. I am assuming that if a kid walks into a school in England with a Yamaha oboe, she`ll be OK as long as she can play at their pitch. I also assume the reeds she buys from a fine oboist near Philadelphia may not serve her needs over there. Can anyone give some advice on this?

Thanks,
Mary Schmidt

Hi there

In the UK we usually play oboes that have thumbplates on them, and this changes how the notes are played compared to the way you in the US play on conservatoires. Also we use a different reed, I think it is the length that is different slighty,also shaped slighty differently. We have a slighter different sound here that we try to achieve.

Having said all of that I would assume that it would be best to buy once over here in the UK. But also bear in mund that oboes are probably more expensive here.

Hope that helps a little

Regards

Karen

Meant to say, Yamahas are fine here I have one, but it has the thumbplate added so is dual system

T T F N

Karen